MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) Now Covered by Analysts at Bank of America

Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) in a research note released on Thursday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage issued a neutral rating and a $585.00 price objective on the technology company's stock.

Several other research firms have also commented on MSCI. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of MSCI from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $617.00 to $723.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on MSCI from $700.00 to $680.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of MSCI from $623.00 to $532.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of MSCI from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on MSCI from $662.00 to $695.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $646.58.

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MSCI Trading Up 1.3 %

MSCI stock traded up $7.19 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $558.44. 136,518 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 578,742. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.36 billion, a PE ratio of 39.72, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.30. MSCI has a 1-year low of $439.95 and a 1-year high of $642.45. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $561.54 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $586.67.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $4.18 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.96 by $0.22. MSCI had a net margin of 38.83% and a negative return on equity of 156.08%. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.68 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that MSCI will post 16.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a dividend of $1.80 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This is a boost from MSCI's previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.29%. MSCI's payout ratio is currently 51.21%.

Insider Buying and Selling at MSCI

In other news, COO Cd Baer Pettit sold 5,000 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $524.25, for a total transaction of $2,621,250.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 294,787 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $154,542,084.75. The trade was a 1.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 5,300 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $574.51 per share, with a total value of $3,044,903.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,269,951 shares of the company's stock, valued at $729,599,549.01. The trade was a 0.42 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 3.31% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of MSCI

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of MSCI in the 4th quarter worth about $609,937,000. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its position in shares of MSCI by 16,353.6% in the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 587,557 shares of the technology company's stock worth $352,539,000 after acquiring an additional 583,986 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of MSCI by 61,179.6% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 505,557 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $285,892,000 after acquiring an additional 504,732 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its stake in MSCI by 3,881.3% during the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 419,429 shares of the technology company's stock worth $251,662,000 after purchasing an additional 408,894 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in MSCI by 169.4% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 507,413 shares of the technology company's stock worth $304,453,000 after purchasing an additional 319,083 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.97% of the company's stock.

MSCI Company Profile

MSCI Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides critical decision support tools and solutions for the investment community to manage investment processes worldwide. The Index segment provides indexes for use in various areas of the investment process, including indexed financial product, such as ETFs, mutual funds, annuities, futures, options, structured products, and over-the-counter derivatives; performance benchmarking; portfolio construction and rebalancing; and asset allocation, as well as licenses GICS and GICS Direct.